TY  - JOUR
A1  - Cristini, Marco
A2  - Ambühl, Annemarie
A2  - Carlà-Uhink, Filippo
A2  - Rollinger, Christian
A2  - Walde, Christine
T1  - The Fall of Two Cities: Troy and Gondolin
T2  - thersites 15
N2  - Vergil was a fundamental source of inspiration for Tolkien, not only when writing the Lord of the Rings, but also at the beginning of his “world-building”. The Fall of Gondolin, written in 1916, was modeled upon the Aeneid, whose second book shares many similarities with the description of Gondolin’s last day. For instance, the attack that seals the fate of the city takes place during a feast in both works, whereas both protagonists (Aeneas and Tuor) leave wives and sons to fight the enemy and witness deaths of their kings (Priam/Turgon). Other analogies include the topos of the fall of the tallest tower of the city as well as the scenes of Creusa/Idril clasping the knees of her husband and begging him not to go back to the battle. Tolkien chose the Aeneid as his main model because, in his opinion, the Aeneid and The Fall of Gondolin evoked the air of antiquity and melancholy. Vergil’s nostalgia for a “lost world” conveyed in the Aeneid greatly resembles the nostalgia pervading both Tolkien’s writing and life.
KW  - Tolkien
KW  - reception of Vergil
KW  - Aeneid
KW  - Troy
KW  - Gondolin
Y1  - 2022
UR  - https://publishup.uni-potsdam.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/56523
VL  - 2022
IS  - 15
SP  - 1
EP  - 24
ER  -